The present invention relates to a metallurgical furnace and, more particularly, a metallurgical furnace for preheating and homogenizing aluminum ingots prior to hot rolling same.
Furnaces for heating aluminum ingots, commonly known as pusher furnaces, tend to be extremely inefficient when the furnace is designed to handle ingots of various sizes. The hot gases used to heat the ingots in the furnace tend to bounce off the floor of the furnace and flow predominantly over the top of the ingots from one end to the other thereby resulting in uneven heating of the ingots. By periodically reversing the flow of the hot gases during the heating of the ingots both ends of the ingot can be exposed to the maximum heat of the hot gases; however, the lower portion in the middle of the ingots away from the ends thereof is not exposed directly to the hot gases and therefore is heated only as a result of heat transferred from the top and ends of the ingot. As a result, excessive heat up times are required to bring the entire ingot to the homogenizing temperature thus decreasing the throughput of the furnaces.
Naturally, it would be highly desirable to provide a furnace for preheating and homogenizing aluminum ingots wherein the entire surface of the ingot including the side walls thereof are contacted with the furnace hot gases.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a metallurgfical furnace for effectively heating aluminum ingots.
It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a metallurgical furnace with baffles for directing the flow of hot gases to all sidewall surfaces of the ingots being heated.
Further objects and advantages will appear hereinbelow.